Pitching machines are widely used by both professional and non-professional athletes for batting practice. Conventional pitching machines include a pitching head having either one motor driven wheel or two counter-rotating motor driven wheels that engage a ball and project the ball toward an awaiting batter. These machines often include macro-adjustment capabilities for altering the pitch location. Such macro-adjustments are typically achieved by loosening locking handles and then moving the machine head, by hand, about one or more axes to position the head to throw the type of pitch (spin angle) to the desired location. The user sets the head at about the position they think they want, locks it into position, and then turns the machine on to throw test pitches.
After one or more test pitches, the user typically needs to fine-tune the pitch location by making minor adjustments to move the pitch to the left or right or up or down, namely “micro-adjustments.” To perform micro-adjustments on conventional pitching machines, the user must again loosen the same locking handles and, ever so slightly, move the head to where the user estimates is the correct position and, once again, locks the head into place. Usually this micro-adjustment process requires numerous tries of locking and unlocking until the machine is throwing to the desired location.
Pitching machines are generally quite heavy with much of the machine's weight residing in the pitching head elevated above the ground typically by a stand. This generally top heavy design further increases the difficulty of performing multiple small adjustments of the pitching head to achieve the desired pitch location. Some pitching machines require two users to adjust the position of the machine. In other cases, a single user must use both hands and be positioned properly to manipulate locking handles and retain the pitching head in the desired location during the adjustment. If one fails to properly hold or maintain the pitching head during minor adjustments, the top heavy design of the pitching head can cause the pitching head to suddenly drop or slide to a lower position. In some instances, the sliding or dropping of a pitching head can cause the pitching machine to tip over.
It would thus be desirable to provide a pitching machine that is capable of performing micro-adjustments efficiently and easily. What is needed is a pitching machine that allows for minor adjustments without requiring two people, or one person using two hands to adjust the machine. It would be advantageous to provide a pitching machine that does not create the risk of sudden movement of the pitching head if the user loses hold of the pitching head during minor adjustments.